We had a lightening strike real close to the house last night, big power bump. Shortly thereafter, I could hear a relay clicking, the compressor try to start for 3-5 seconds, then the relay would click again and the compressor would be off. I pulled off the black plastic piece that was attached to the compressor, I believe it has a capacitor that inserts into another component. I'm hoping that it is not the compressor, but have no idea how to troubleshoot down to what I might need to replace. Any ideas? Thanks for your help.
- Kevin

Most probably just the start device is bad, just take a picture of where the wires go to it, then order a new one, AP3962960
If this is different than the one on the side of the compressor, let us know.
Make sure you plug in the run capacitor into the new one and add a 1000 joule surge protector, designed for appliances, to the wall outlet.

Most probably just the start device is bad, just take a picture of where the wires go to it, then order a new one, AP3962960
If this is different than the one on the side of the compressor, let us know.
Make sure you plug in the run capacitor into the new one and add a 1000 joule surge protector, designed for appliances, to the wall outlet.

I installed the new start device and run capacitor and the fridge is now running. The freezer has gotten cold, but I'm not sure that the fridge side is working quite right. It took a long time to cool down, longer than I expected, and I have a probe from a digital thermometer in there right now and it is at 41 deg F with the dials set to the "coldest" #7. Is that about right or should it be getting colder?

The freezer should get down to zero if running a lot. Considering your fridg temp got to room temperature when it failed, it will take more than 4 hours to chill down to a Normal" temperature. This assumes the freezer gets down to a "normal" temperature.

The content on this web site is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace an on-site diagnosis from a qualified appliance service technician. By reading any content on this site you agree to AppliancePartsPros.com , Inc. disclaimer and Terms of Use.